Monday, June 15, 2009

Root Beer, the All-American classic

From GoSanAngelo.com

The stuff has a nice flavor and was the favorite drink of Calamity Jane in a 1963 Broadway musical. In more than one two-reel oater, or Western movie of the 1940s, it was the favorite drink of the clean-cut handsome cowboy hero who refused whiskey or beer in the saloon. The bad guys called the hero a sissy because he ordered “sarsaparilla,” but they soon learned he was tougher than a horseshoe nail.

I like sarsaparilla, so I guess I would not have fit well amongst the frontier folks and the gunslingers. In today’s society, we call the once-popular drink by another name — “root beer.”

The reason is simple. The primary uses of sarsaparilla is in the flavoring of various beverages such as root beer. It also is used as a folk medicine, supposedly as a “blood purifier,” and as a general pep agent used in tonics to invigorate and cleanse the body.

[Go here for the full story.]


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